Reconfiguring the cases power button to kill the mythfrontend is an easy way to trigger a clean/managed shutdown from a hardware control. By killing mythfrontend, mythwelcome will manage a clean shutdown (i.e when mythbackend is not busy recording... or locked e.t.c.).

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The following was tested on Mythbuntu / Ubuntu 11.04 32bit

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Step 1: Backup the following (in case you need to revert):

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sudo cp -p /etc/acpi/powerbtn.sh /etc/acpi/powerbtn.sh.orig

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Step 2: Comment out (or remove) the following line in /etc/acpi/powerbtn.sh

Introduction

Mythwelcome is an mythTV application that can prevent the backend from shutting down the system
if it is busy commercial flagging, downloading EPG data, transcoding or shutdown has been locked by
a user. Mythwelcome can be very useful if you run both frontend and backend on a single machine and
use ACPI_Wakeup to automatically shutdown and wakeup your machine. Proir to the introduction of MythWelcome, MythFrontend would always start up, and, therefore, MythBackend would never shut down.

What is MythWelcome

MythWelcome is a Myth themed application that shows a welcome/status
information screen that will be shown whenever the frontend is not
running ie. when an automatic startup has occurred to record a program.
It shows some information about what the backend is currently doing
idle, recording, commercial flagging, transcoding or locked by a user etc.).
It also shows what the backend is recording, what the next scheduled recording
is and shows a warning if there are any schedule conflicts. There is also a
push button to start the frontend.

It is useful if you want to setup a dedicated MythTV system that you
don't want to run 24/7 but you want to automatically wake up to record
just like a normal video recorder and shutdown again when it is idle.

Mythwelcome will also prevent the backend from shutting down the system
if it is busy commercial flagging, downloading EPG data, transcoding or
shutdown has been locked by a user.

Working with mythwelcome

A new addition in 0.19. This utility program displays a myth themed dialog which shows a welcome/status information screen that is designed to be shown whenever the frontend is not running.

This has been introduced for those people that want to use scheduled wakeup and shutdown to record scheduled shows to save on power consumption. Prior to this the Frontend would always start up which in turn meant that the backend would never shutdown when the recording had finished thus defeating the whole purpose.

The Welcome screen will show the status of the backend and wait for you to manually start the frontend with your remote.

Using MythWelcome/MythShutdown with ACPI

MythShutdown program

The mythshutdown command line utility is a multi-purpose helper program used by
both mythbackend and mythwelcome. The program needs to be configured to
work properly by editing the settings in the GUI.

Note: When performing testing be aware that mythshutdown will never shut down the system if there is less than 15 minutes till the next wake up time.

The program can be run with the following parameters:

-w/--setwakeup time
time - should be in format yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss
sets the time the next scheduled recording is to start. Does not set the
time in the bios just sets the value in the database.
Usually called by the backend's 'Set wakeup time command'.
-t/--setscheduledwakeup
sets the time the next scheduled recording is to start. Does not set the
time in the bios just sets the value in the database. Differs from
--setwakeup as this will query the database directly so doesn't
need the time passed to it.
-q/--shutdown
calls the mythwelcome 'Set Wakeup Time Command' and then runs the
mythwelcome 'Shutdown command'. Usually called by the backend's 'Server Halt
command'.
-x/--safeshutdown
equal to -c -t -q. Checks shutdown is safe, sets scheduled wakeup time
in database and shutdown (runs 'Set Wakeup Time Command' then 'Shutdown command')
-p/--startup
check how system was started. Will return 0 if system started for a scheduled
recording or daily wakeup period. Returns 1 if started manually
-c/--check flag
flag is 0 - don't check recording status
1 - do check recording status (default)
returns 0 safe to shutdown or 1 not safe to shutdown
this is usually called by the backend as the 'Pre-Shutdown Check command'.
will return 1 if shutdown is locked, mythcommflag is running, mythtranscode
is running, mythfilldatabase is running or we are in or about to start a
daily wakeup/shutdown period.
--lock
this will prevent mythbackend from shutting down the system even if
it is idle. It is useful if you want to do some maintenance on the system
and don't want the backend to shutdown the computer.
-u/--unlock
allows the backend to shutdown when idle
-s/--status flag
flag is 0 - don't check recording status
1 - do check recording status (default)
returns a value indicating what programs are running that will prevent
the backend from shutting down. The value is an OR'd flag of the following
values:
0 - Idle - free to shutdown
1 - Transcoding - mythtranscode is running
2 - Commercial Flagging - mythcommflag is running
4 - Grabbing EPG data - mythfilldatabase is running
8 - Recording in progress - only valid if flag is 1
16 - Locked - shutdown has been locked by a user
32 - Has queued or pending jobs -
64 - In wakeup period - In a daily wakeup/shutdown period
128 - About to start wake - Less than 15 minutes to next wakeup period
255 - Setup is running... - mythtv-setup is running
used by mythwelcome to display a status message to the user and
by 'mythshutdown --check' itself to determine if it is safe to shutdown.
-v/--verbose debug-level
debug-level - use -v help for level info
By default mythshutdown is silent and does not produce any output on the
console. This is by design because it is called often by mythwelcome and
mythbackend. You can add this parameter to make mythwelcome output some
messages to the console.

Mythwelcome/Mythshutdown Settings

Like most of MythTV Mythwelcome and Mythshutdown store their settings
in the myth database. All of the settings are settable from the GUI.
There are two separate settings pages. One is shown by starting
mythwelcome with the -s/--setup parameter or by pressing the
'SHOWSETTINGS' key (defaults to F11 key) in Mythwelcome. You will probably only ever
set these options once when you first setup Mythwelcome.

Command to Set Wakeup Time
Command to run to set the ACPI alarm in bios. The $time variable will contain the next wakeup time
Wakeup time format
Format for the time string passed to the 'Set Wakeup Time Command. Set to 'time_t' for seconds
since epoch.
nvram-wakeup Restart Command
Must be set to a blank value if using ACPI wakeup.
Command to reboot
Command used to reboot system.
Command to shutdown
Command used to shutdown system.
Command to run Xterm
This is the command to use to open an XTerm window.
Leave blank to disable this feature.
Tip: If the default font size is too small to see on your
TV change the default setting to:
'xterm -fa Courier -fs 14' to change the font style and size.
Command to start the Frontend
This is the command mythwelcome should use to start the FE. It
is usefull if you want to change the verbose level or add a log
file to output message etc.

The second set of settings are available by pressing 'i/INFO' key in mythwelcome and allows you
to setup the daily wakeup/shutdown periods and control whether to automatically
start the mythfrontend when mythwelcome is started and it is determined that it
was started manually.

Period 1 Start Time - These setting determine a period of time that the master backend
Period 1 End Time should always wake up for. Set both times to 00:00 to
disable this feature.
Period 2 Start Time - Second wakeup/shutdown period settings.
Period 2 End Time Note: Period 1 and period 2 should be in correct chronological order.
So for example if you have two periods 10:00-13:00 and 19:00-22:00 then
10:00-13:00 must be period 1 and 19:00-22:00 must be period 2. This is
because if the start times for both daily wakeup periods has passed for
today then the next wake time will be set to the first daily wakeup time
tomorrow even if the second daily wakeup time is before the first.
Automatically Start - Normally when mythwelcome starts up it checks to see whether
Mythfrontend the system was started to record something or because of a
wakeup/shutdown period. If not it will automatically start the
frontend. You can disable this feature by unchecking this option.
Shutdown with Master - (Frontend only machines). If set mythwelcome will shutdown this system
Backend when the master backend shutsdown.

A popup menu is available by pressing the 'm/MENU' key in mythwelcome and allows you to lock/unlock the machine
from shutting down, run mythfilldatabase or do a shutdown now.

POPUP MENU
If you press the m/MENU key mythwelcome will display a popup menu with the
following options.
Lock Shutdown - Prevents the system from shutting down even if it is idle.
Unlock Shutdown - Allows the system to shutdown when it is idle.
Run Mythfilldatabase - Force mythfilldatabase to run now.
Shutdown Now - Force the system to shutdown even if it is not idle or is
in a wakeup/shutdown period.
FE only machines simply shutdown using the 'Poweroff command'
that has been setup in settings.
Master BE machines will not shutdown if the backend
is recording or is about to start recording otherwise
mythwelcome sets the time of the next wakeup and shuts down
the system.
Requires sudo to be setup properly to allow mythwelcome to call
the mythshutdown program with root privileges. See above.
Exit - Exit the mythwelcome application.
Cancel - Cancel the popup menu.

Start xterm

There is a hidden feature that allows you to start an xterm from the mythwelcome
screen. Useful if you need to do some trouble shooting. You can access it by
pressing the F12 key (default key binding). You can change the command that will
be used to start the xterm on the Mythshutdown settings page (F11 key).

evilwm

mythwelcome is known to have focus problems with evilwm. If you are experiencing any
problems try running mythwelcome under a xterm, i.e.

xterm -e mythwelcome

Configuring the Cases Power Button to Shutdown via Mythwelcome (optional)

Reconfiguring the cases power button to kill the mythfrontend is an easy way to trigger a clean/managed shutdown from a hardware control. By killing mythfrontend, mythwelcome will manage a clean shutdown (i.e when mythbackend is not busy recording... or locked e.t.c.).

If your mythtv user is not root you will need to run Mythshutdown with root privileges, see the section below on root privileges

And if you start wondering why it doesn't work, come back and read the
rest of this article.

Prerequisites

You should have already installed and have a working nvram-wakeup
setup including modifying your bootloader menu to add a Poweroff
menu option if your bios requires a reboot when setting the wakeup
time in the bios.

Mythwelcome/Mythshutdown Settings

Like most of MythTV Mythwelcome and Mythshutdown store their settings
in the myth database. All of the settings are settable from the GUI.
There are two separate settings pages. One is shown by starting
mythwelcome with the -s/--setup parameter or by pressing the
'SHOWSETTINGS' key (defaults to F11 key) in Mythwelcome. You will probably only ever
set these options once when you first setup Mythwelcome.

nvram-wakeup command - command to set wakeup time in bios
''recent changes(post 0.20.2) to the time format code cause problems''
nvram-wakeup only accepts time_t (seconds since
unix epoch) as a date/time format. mythshutdown only uses
ISO-8601 (yyyy-MM-ddThh:mm:ss). Both programs now use the
same setting name in the database for their format
token. Since getting the wakeup time in the BIOS involves
using both programs, it's now impossible.
You can get around this like this
"date -d "`echo $time | sed "s/T/ /"`" +%s | xargs nvram-wakeup -s"
Replace the preset arguments on the end with the ones that work
for you.
The sed is in there to strip the "T" because gnu date can't parse ISO-8601 format
properly (a bug known for at least 3 years), despite being
able to produce it.
if you are really lucky nvram-wakeup will be able
to recognise your M/B automatically
"/usr/sbin/nvram-wakeup"
if you need to explicitly set the info-writer use
something like this
"/usr/sbin/nvram-wakeup -A -I aopen_ax37"
if you need to use a custom config file use something
like this
"/usr/sbin/nvram-wakeup -A -C /etc/nvram-wakeup.conf"
Note that Mythwelcome will append "--settime xxxxxxxxxx" to this command
where xxxxxxxxxx is the next wakeup time in UTC format.
nvram-wakeup restart - command to set which bootloader menu option to use
command after next reboot. This command is run if your bios
requires you to reboot to allow nvram-wakeup settings
to take effect. Leave blank if your bios doesn't require a reboot.
older versions of grub require something like this
"echo 'savedefault --default=1 --once quit' | /sbin/grub"
(Note use: \' for the single quotes when entering the command else it wont save)
newer versions of grub can use something like this
"grub-set-default 1"
lilo users should use something like this
"lilo -R PowerOff"
OpenSUSE Users should use "/usr/sbin/grubonce x" (run as root)
where x is the menu entry in your grub boot menu.
If you run "grubonce" with no prarameters it will print out boot the menu list
Poweroff Command - The command mythshutdown should use to poweroff the computer.
e.g. "/sbin/poweroff"
Reboot Command - The command mythshutdown should use to reboot the computer.
Used when your BIOS requires a reboot to allow nvram-wakeup
settings to take effect.
e.g. "/sbin/reboot" - if bios requires a reboot.
e.g. "/sbin/poweroff" - important to include this if bios does not require
a reboot.
Start XTerm Command - This is the command to use to open an XTerm window.
Leave blank to disable this feature.
Tip: If the default font size is too small to see on your
TV change the default setting to:
'xterm -fa Courier -fs 14' to change the font style and size.
Start Frontend Command - This is the command mythwelcome should use to start the FE. It
is usefull if you want to change the verbose level or add a log
file to output message etc.

The second set of settings are available by pressing 'i/INFO' key in mythwelcome and allows you
to setup the daily wakeup/shutdown periods and control whether to automatically
start the mythfrontend when mythwelcome is started and it is determined that it
was started manually.

Period 1 Start Time - These setting determine a period of time that the master backend
Period 1 End Time should always wake up for. Set both times to 00:00 to
disable this feature.
Period 2 Start Time - Second wakeup/shutdown period settings.
Period 2 End Time Note: Period 1 and period 2 should be in correct chronological order.
So for example if you have two periods 10:00-13:00 and 19:00-22:00 then
10:00-13:00 must be period 1 and 19:00-22:00 must be period 2. This is
because if the start times for both daily wakeup periods has passed for
today then the next wake time will be set to the first daily wakeup time
tomorrow even if the second daily wakeup time is before the first.
Automatically Start - Normally when mythwelcome starts up it checks to see whether
Mythfrontend the system was started to record something or because of a
wakeup/shutdown period. If not it will automatically start the
frontend. You can disable this feature by unchecking this option.
Shutdown with Master - (Frontend only machines). If set mythwelcome will shutdown this system
Backend when the master backend shutsdown.

MythBackend setup options

The mythbackend needs to co-operate with mythwelcome to work
as intended. It does this by calling the helper program 'mythshutdown'
to check whether it is safe to shutdown, to set the time to wake up
for the next scheduled recording and to do the actual shutdown.

You should run mythtv-setup and on the Shutdown/Wakeup Options page set
the following settings:

Because 'mythshutdown --shutdown' needs to run grub/lilo, reboot, poweroff
and nvram-wakeup all of which require root privileges if you don't run the mythbackend
as root you will have to use sudo to give mythshutdown root privileges and change the
Server Halt command to 'sudo -H mythshutdown --shutdown'.

You will have to restart the backend for the new settings to take effect.

Bootloader setup

If your motherboard/bios requires a reboot after changing the startup time
in the bios with nvram-wakeup you should configure grub/lilo with a special
menu boot option to reboot and immediately shutdown.

In addition, if your /boot directory is in another filesystem it may not be mounted
automatically to protect the kernel. In these cases, instead of calling grub-set-default
directly, you're going to need to use a shell script that mounts the /boot filesystem first.

Grub Users Only

Simply add the following menu boot option to your grub.conf file:

title=PowerOff
savedefault 0
cat /boot/grub/default
halt

You should change the '0' to the menu item number you want to boot
normally by default. Also add 'default saved' towards the top of the file.
The command to read the file is to force grub to sync the file to disk. Some versions
have a bug which means they do not do this before the halt executes.

Set the nvram-wakeup restart command to '/sbin/grub-set-default 1'. The 1 should be the menu item number of the PowerOff menu item you added above starting from 0.

See the nvram-wakeup documentation for more info on how to setup lilo.

Allow a user to run the MythShutdown program with root privileges

Because you would normally run mythwelcome and the mythshutdown script as
a normal user without root privileges you will need to setup sudo to allow
you to run the mythshutdown --shutdown as the root user to allow it to
run reboot, poweroff, grub/lilo and nvram-wakeup.

Add the following line to the end of your '/etc/sudoers' file.

Note:
This file must be edited by using the command:

sudo visudo

Change mythtv to the user you use to run mythwelcome and the mythshutdown program.
You may also have to change the path to mythshutdown to suit your setup.